Cheaters from Ljubljana

By Erol Avdovic (Webpublicapress/New York) – According to its website statement “Nova Ljubljanska banka” (NLB), actually — the biggest bank in Slovenia, is “a bank with a mission is much more than the sum of its activities”. The statement says - Nova Ljubljanska banka is “continually consolidating its influence in the financial markets through its active and strategic role in all fields of social development”.

The bank is advertising even “tradition and trust, and by responsibly cultivating our business values” — creating “a new image of banking culture”. Yet, it is a well known fact that the largest Slovenian bank is implicated in negating the right to old savers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia their money deposited once (before the war in ex-Yugoslavia started 1991), to the branches of “Ljubljanska banka” with the capital and other resourses used for establishing NLB.

So, the statement like “we well understand the significance of our mission, and we know that the successful development of society as a whole also increases the reputation and value of the bank as a part of this society”, put on the NLB web site.sound unprofessional, false and even ironic (please watch Deutche Welle video).

(Video: Ljubljnska banka – Deutsche Welle)

On December 31 – 2012, Reuters reported that – Slovenia’s largest bank Nova Ljubljanska Banka ”warned it will probably need a fresh capital injection in 2013 after shareholders on Saturday failed to approve an immediate 375 million euro ($495.8 million) capital hike”.

NLB is one of three troubled local banks whose weak balance sheet, burdened by bad loans, has given rise to speculation that Slovenia might need an international bailout next year, Reuters reported continuing with other facts on Nova Ljubljanska banka.

Slovenia is protecting NLB

NLB Largest Slovenian bank (Courtesy photo)

“The lender said on Monday a capital injection would most probably be needed next year to cover losses from rising bad loans and to meet tougher European capital requirements.

It said, however, it would end 2012 with a capital ratio that would be high enough to ensure its “stability and security”.

The unlisted bank gave no indication of the size of the capital boost it was likely to need or its expected timing.

Earlier this year, NLB received a total of 383 million euros of capital from the state, which controls about 85 percent of the bank after Belgian banking and insurance group KBC on Friday sold its 22 percent stake to Slovenia for 2.8 million euros.

The government will form a new firm in the first quarter of 2013 that will take over bad loans of state-owned banks in exchange for state-guaranteed bonds in order to ease the credit crunch and enable bank privatisation.

Slovenia, which joined the euro zone in 2007, was badly hit by the global crisis due to its dependency on overseas markets and is struggling with recession amid lower export demand and a fall in domestic spending caused in part by budget cuts.

The government expects the economy to shrink by 1.4 percent next year after a contraction of 2 percent in 2012. ($1 = 0.7564 euros)”.

Cheaters from Ljubljana

It is pity that such bank entity continues to deny the basic right to the old savers (yes, including the author of this media display, serving only as a personal authentic example) – to get their money in accordance with the private agreements with Ljubljanska banka in Bosnia and Croatia. It is even more morally and devastating and business unacceptable – such bank – NLB to be protected by Slovenian state and government since Slovenia is a member state of EU. There is no such other bank in EU, or state, to be allowed to cheat its (bank) dispositors for more than 20 years.